Refrigerator shelving assembly

ABSTRACT

A refrigerator includes a cabinet, a liner and a shelving assembly having a support frame defined by connected front, rear and side frame members. Each of the side frame members is interconnected with the front and rear frame members such that the first and second opposing pairs of frame members combine to form an overall support frame. A front portion of the support frame clips onto mounting elements projecting from side walls of the liner, while a rear portion of the support frame is supported through first and second protrusions that extend substantially perpendicularly from one of the second pair of opposing frame members and the rear frame member. The protrusions extend through openings in the liner and into recessed cavities formed in rigid insulation material provided between the liner and the cabinet.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention pertains to the art of refrigerators and, more particularly, a refrigerator shelving assembly that is supported, at least in part, by rigid insulation material provided between an outer shell and inner liner of the refrigerator.

2. Discussion of the Prior Art

Refrigerator manufacturers make available various refrigerator models which range from basic to high end models. The different models vary in numerous aspects, such as size, components utilized, features and, accordingly, price. In order to reduce manufacturing costs, it is desirable to produce some parts that are common to all or at least a few of the various refrigerator models. The parts are typically accessorized to distinguish between the various models.

At present, most refrigerator cabinets are constructed by fixing a thin plastic liner in an outer shell. The liner typically includes specific molded features that are configured to receive accessories designed for the liner. In any event, once the liner is in place, a foam insulation is injected between the liner and the outer shell and cures in-situ to provide the necessary thermal characteristics and structural support for the cabinet. At this point, accessories, such as shelves, bins and the like, are supported by or relative to the specific molded features, with additional support hardware being often mounted to the liner to receive the accessories.

While the above-described arrangement provides a relatively simple and cost effective process for forming a refrigerator, changing accessories generally requires corresponding changes to the liner. For example, if it is desired to update or change the shelving, either the liners must be remolded to accommodate the new shelves, the new shelves must be designed to accommodate the existing liners or additional hardware must be mounted in the refrigerator to accept the new accessories. In any case, the manufacturer is faced with design constraints that place limits upon product development.

Based on the above, there exists a need for a more flexible mounting arrangement for refrigerator shelving. More specifically, there exists a need for a refrigerator which enables differently designed refrigerator shelving to be readily mounted within a commonly constructed refrigerator cabinet without requiring the liner to have specific molded features to accommodate the different shelving.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a shelving assembly for a refrigerator. The refrigerator includes an outer shell within which is positioned a thin, plastic liner. In accordance with the invention, the plastic liner includes top, bottom, rear and opposing side walls that collectively define a fresh food compartment, with the rear wall having at least two laterally spaced openings. A rigid insulation material is provided between the outer shell and the liner. The rigid insulation material provides structural support to the plastic liner.

In further accordance with the invention, the shelving assembly includes a first pair of opposing frame members that are defined by a front frame member and a rear frame member spaced aft of the front frame member. In addition to the first pair of frame members, the shelving assembly includes a second pair of opposing frame members that define laterally spaced side frame members. Each of the side frame members is interconnected with the front and rear frame members forming an overall support frame. Preferably, each of side frame members includes at least one support rail for receiving a slidable drawer, such as a crisper bin or other compartment.

In accordance with the most preferred form of the invention, a rear portion of the support frame is supported by first and second protrusions that extend through the openings pierced or otherwise formed in the rear liner wall and rest upon base portions of recessed cavities created in the insulation material between the liner and the outer shell. Preferably, the first and second protrusions project substantially perpendicularly from one of the second pair of opposing frame members and the rear frame member into the recessed cavities to support the rear portion of the frame. The front portion of the support frame is supported through a pair of opposing support elements. More specifically, first and second opposing support elements project from respective ones of the opposing side walls of the plastic liner. The first and second support elements engage corresponding ones of the side frame members to hold the front portion of the support frame.

Additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts in the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an upper right perspective view of a refrigerator incorporating a shelving assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the refrigerator of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial, cross-sectional side view of the shelving assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a partial, upper rear view of a support frame portion of the shelving assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a mounting element portion of the shelving assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a support element portion of the shelving assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With initial reference to FIGS. 1-3, a refrigerator 2 is shown to include an outer shell or cabinet 4 having arranged therein a thin plastic liner 6. As shown, liner 6 includes top, bottom, rear and opposing side walls 8-12 that collectively define a fresh food compartment 14. In the embodiment shown, refrigerator 2 includes a first door 17 and a second door 18 that are used to selectively seal fresh food compartment 14. Actually, first and second doors 17 and 18 establish French-style doors for fresh food compartment 14. First and second doors 17 and 18 include corresponding inner liners 21 and 22, each being adapted to support various storage bins or shelves (not shown). In a manner known in the art, first and second doors 17 and 18 are provided with handles 27 and 28. Refrigerator 2 also includes a third door 34 having a handle 36 that provides access to a freezer compartment 40.

As represented in FIG. 3, refrigerator 2 includes an insulation material 44 that fills a zone 50 located between rear and side portions of liner 6 and outer shell 4. In accordance with the most preferred form of the invention, insulation material 44 is constitutes a foam insulation which is injected into zone 50 and allowed to cure in-situ to achieve a rigid or hard state. Once hardened, insulation material 44 provides the necessary structural reinforcement to enable cabinet 4 to mount various accessories, such as a shelving assembly 60. At this point, it should be recognized that constructing and insulating a refrigerator cabinet in the manner set forth above is known in the art. Therefore, this description is simply provided for the sake of completeness, with the invention being particularly directed to the structure and method of mounting shelving assembly 60 in cabinet 4.

In accordance with the invention as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, shelving assembly 60 includes a support frame 63 having a first pair of opposing frame members defined by a front frame member 65 and a rear frame member 66 which is spaced from front frame member 65. Support frame 63 also includes a second pair of opposing frame members defined by laterally spaced side frame members 70 and 71. As shown, side frame members 70 and 71 are interconnected with front and rear frame members 65 and 66 to establish support frame 63 which can be made of metal or preferably molded of plastic.

With specific reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, support frame 63 is shown to include first and second protrusions 84 and 85 that extend substantially perpendicularly from rear frame member 66. Rear frame member 66 is also shown to include a central notch 88 to accommodate other structure (not shown) provided along rear wall 10 of liner 6. In a manner that will be discussed more fully below, first and second protrusions 84 and 85 are employed to support a rear portion (not separately labeled) of support frame 63, while a front portion (not separately labeled) of support frame 63 is supported by separate mounting members, one of which is shown at 90 in FIG. 3. Support frame 63 is also shown to include a support rail 91 that extends along side frame member 70. Of course, it should be understood that a corresponding support rail 91 is also provided on side frame member 71. With this arrangement, a drawer or storage compartment 95 can be suspended from support frame 63. More specifically, storage compartment 95 is slidably supported on support rails 91 through the use of laterally outwardly projecting flanges (not shown) of storage compartment 95 resting upon rails 91 in a manner known in the art. Certainly, rollers and other types of bearing guides could also be employed.

In accordance with the most preferred form of the invention, support frame 63 is placed into fresh food compartment 14 such that first and second protrusions 84 and 85 extend into first and second openings 124 and 125 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) formed in rear wall 10. In turn, first and second openings 124 and 125 lead into a pair of recessed cavities 134 and 135 established in rigid insulation 44. As each recessed cavity 134, 135 is identical, a detailed description of recessed cavity 134 will be made with an understanding that recessed cavity 135 is similarly formed.

As best shown in FIG. 3, recessed cavity 134 includes top, rear, side (not labeled) and bottom supporting surfaces 139-141. With this arrangement, first and second protrusions 84 and 85 rest upon corresponding ones of bottom or base supporting surfaces 141 to support the rear portion of support frame 63. At this point, it should be understood that first and second openings 124 and 125 can be formed in liner 6 prior to installation into outer shell 4 or formed subsequently, either individually or together with recessed cavities 134 and 135. Most preferably, first and second openings 124 and 125 are formed by piercing rear wall 10 after liner 6 is thermoformed, with first and second openings 124 and 125 being taped for the insulation is injected into zone 50. In addition, recessed cavities 134 and 135 can be created in various ways, including during the in-situ foaming process, in pre-formed insulation panels, upon forming first and second openings 124 and 125 through a piercing process or, most preferably, by just deforming insulation material 44 through forcing first and second protrusions 84 and 85 into insulation material 44 behind first and second openings 124 and 125.

In further accordance with the invention, the forward portion of support frame 63 is mounted to liner 6 through first and second support elements 160 and 161. Although the structure and mounting of first and second support elements 160 and 161 will be detailed more fully hereinafter, at this point, it should be noted that each mounting member 90 preferably clips onto a respective support element 160, 161 to fasten support frame 63 to side walls 11 and 12. Therefore, one mounting member 90 on side frame member 70 clips onto support element 160 and a corresponding mounting member 90 is provided on side frame member 71 to engage with support member 161. Support elements 160 and 161 are detachably secured to side walls 11 and 12 through a pair of mounting elements, one of which is indicated at 174 in FIG. 5. As shown, mounting element 174 includes a main body portion 180 having a generally planar surface 183 from which extends, on one side, a fastening member 185 and, on an opposing side, a fixing member 186. As shown, fastening member 185 includes a base portion 189 having a thickness generally equal to that of liner 6. Extending from base portion 189 is a mounting portion 192, having a generally tapered profile, and a plurality of raised sections 195 and 196 which, as will be discussed more fully below, are configured to cooperate with support element 160.

Prior to mounting liner 6 within cabinet 4, each mounting element 174 is inserted through a respective opening (not shown) formed in a respective side wall 11, 12 of liner 6. That is, each mounting element 174 is placed against a rear side of liner 6 and, following the mounting of liner 6 in cabinet 4, between liner 6 and cabinet 4. Although mounting element 174 could be sized to enable planar surface 183 to abut liner 6 while fixing member 186 abuts cabinet 4, each liner opening is preferably configured to accept a respective fastening member 185 which is then rotated within the liner opening to create a friction fit between liner 6 and base portion 189. Of course, other temporary attachment arrangements could also be employed, including providing a snap-fit connection or utilizing an adhesive to temporarily secured mounting element 174 to liner 6. Regardless, after the insulation process, each mounting element 174 is securely held in place by insulation material 44. More specifically, insulation 44 cures or hardens about fixing member 186 to secure mounting element 174 relative to liner 6. In order to ensure a positive bond with insulation 44, fixing member 186 includes a plurality of ridges indicated generally at 200, as well as passages 205 and 206. With this arrangement, as the insulation 44 is delivered into zone 50, passages 205 and 206 allow insulation to pass through and form about fixing member 186, with ridges 200 providing increased surface area to improve adhesion. Once insulation 144 hardens, mounting element 174 is permanently fixed in place relative to liner 6.

Once each mounting element 174 and liner 6 are mounted in position and the insulating process is complete, fastening member 185 protrudes into fresh food compartment 14. Thereafter, support element 160 is positioned above mounting portion 192 and shifted into place. More specifically, as best seen in FIG. 6, support element 160 includes a main body portion 220 having a base portion 225 and a supporting element or pin 226. Pin 226 is joined to main body portion 220 through a tapered section 230 that defines first and second notches 233 and 234. Notches 233 and 234 snap-fittingly receive mounting member 90 to position or support the front portion of support frame 63. In any case, base portion 225 is shown to include a mounting element receiver 240 having tapered sides 241 and 242. Actually, tapered sides 241 and 242, together with tapered main body portion 192 of mounting element 174, establish a sliding dovetail connection between support element 160 and mounting element 174. Mounting element receiver 240 includes a recessed section 244 that is sized to snugly receive raised sections 195 and 196 on mounting portion 192 to establish a more robust connection between support element 160 and mounting element 174. In fact, raised sections 195 and 196 preferably, elastically deflect or deform upon the mounting of a respective support element 160, 161, with both mounting element 174 and support element 160, 161 being formed of plastic.

At this point, it should be understood that shelving assembly 60 as described above can take various forms, including a simple planar shelf, a partial width shelf, and a drawer, bin or the like supporting shelf, each of which can be supported in the manner described above without having to form liner 6 with specific structure dedicated to accommodating the particular shelving. Instead, a manufacturer can design a wide variety of shelving assemblies having supporting structure which protrudes in such a fashion to extent through the liner in order to be supported by the insulation. It must be realized that liner 6 itself is too thin to structurally support a shelf. To this end, it is preferred that liner 6 be pierced to form openings 124 and 125 which are sized larger than protrusions 84 and 85 in order to avoid the possibility of protrusions 84 and 85 resting on liner 6. Instead, each protrusion 84 and 85 should extend through a respective opening 124, 125 while being spaced from liner 6 by an annular gap (not separately labeled). In any case, the structure and mounting of a shelving assembly in accordance with the present invention enables a manufacturer to employ a variety of shelving configurations without requiring that liner 6 include any special molding. That is, generic mounting elements can be mounted on side walls 11 and 12 to prevent the frame of the shelving assembly from falling down or pulling out. Thereafter, the manufacturer is free to choose between a variety of possible shelving arrangements including respective protrusions which extend into the insulation zone to establish rear supports which prevent the frame from falling down or tipping up, particularly in the case of a drawer supported frame wherein pulling out a loaded drawer will cause frame to have a tendency to tip.

In any case, although described with reference to a preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be readily understood that various changes and/or modifications can be made to the invention without departing from the spirit thereof. For instance, while described in connection with a refrigerator having French-style doors, the present invention can also be employed in side-by-side, bottom mount and/or top mount models. Also, while the present invention is shown in connection with a full width drawer support frame, other accessories, such as half or full width shelves, would also fall under the scope of the present invention. Finally, it should be realized that the protrusions need only extend rearward beyond the support frame. Therefore, the protrusions could readily project from the side frame members of the support frame, rather than directly from the rear frame member. In general, the invention is only intended to be limited by the scope of the following claims. 

1. A refrigerator comprising: an outer shell; a liner arranged within the outer shell, with the liner being spaced from the outer shell by a zone, said liner including top, bottom, rear and opposing side walls that collectively define a refrigerator compartment, said rear wall including at least two laterally spaced openings; an insulation material provided in the zone between the outer shell and the liner, said insulation material being structurally rigid and including at least two recessed cavities located behind and in alignment with the at least two openings in the rear wall, said recessed cavities being defined by top, rear, side and bottom surfaces; a door pivotally mounted relative to the outer shell for selectively closing, at least in part, the refrigerator compartment; and a refrigerator shelving assembly mounted in the refrigerator compartment, said shelving assembly including: a first pair of opposing frame members defined by a front frame member and a rear frame member; a second pair of opposing frame members defined by laterally spaced side frame members interconnected to said front and rear frame members such that said first and second opposing pairs of frame members combine to form an overall support frame having front and rear portions; first and second support elements projecting from respective ones of the opposing side walls of the liner, wherein the side frame members of the shelving assembly engage said first and second support elements members to support the front portion of the support frame; and first and second protrusions extending from one of the second pair of opposing frame members and the rear frame member rearward beyond the rear frame member, said first and second protrusions projecting through the at least two openings and resting directly upon the bottom surfaces of the recessed cavities to support the rear portion of the support frame.
 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the first and second protrusions project directly from the rear frame member.
 3. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the first and second protrusions project perpendicular from the rear frame member.
 4. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a gap exists between each of the at least two laterally spaced openings and a respective one of the first and second protrusions.
 5. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the first and second support elements are constituted by first and second pins readily detachably mounted to respective ones of the opposing side walls.
 6. The refrigerator according to claim 5, wherein the first and second support elements further include first and second mounting elements fixedly secured to respective ones of the opposing side walls, said first and second pins being detachably secured to the opposing side walls through the first and second mounting elements.
 7. The refrigerator according to claim 6, wherein each of the first and second support elements includes a tapered side and each of the first and second mounting elements includes a tapered body portion, said tapered side nesting within the tapered body portion to secure the first and second opposing support elements to the opposing side walls.
 8. The refrigerator according to claim 6, wherein the first and second support elements are interconnected to the first and second mounting elements through dovetail connections.
 9. The refrigerator according to claim 6, wherein the first and second mounting elements further include a plurality of raised sections which are deflected or deformed upon attachment of the first and second pins to the first and second mounting elements.
 10. The refrigerator according to claim 6, wherein each of the first and second mounting elements includes a body portion positioned in the zone, said body portion being formed with at least one opening into which the insulation material extends.
 11. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the support frame is clipped to each of the first and second support elements.
 12. The refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising: a drawer, wherein the side frame members include support rails, said drawer being slidably supported upon the support rails for movement relative to the support frame.
 13. A method of supporting a shelving assembly in a refrigerator comprising: forming an outer cabinet shell; positioning a plastic liner in the outer cabinet shell, said plastic liner including top, bottom, rear and opposing side walls that collectively define a refrigerator compartment; injecting insulation into a zone defined between the outer shell and the plastic liner, said insulation curing in-situ to form a rigid insulation material; establishing first and second laterally spaced openings in the rear wall of the plastic liner; creating first and second recessed cavities in the rigid insulation behind the first and second openings, with each of the first and second recessed cavities including top, rear, opposing side and bottom support surfaces; mounting frame support elements to the opposing side walls of the plastic liner; and positioning a shelf frame in the fresh food compartment, with first and second protrusions projecting from a rear portion of the shelf frame extending through the first and second openings and resting upon the bottom support surfaces of the rigid insulation, while opposing side frame members of the shelf frame engage the frame support elements to mount the shelf frame.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising: suspending a slidable drawer from the shelf frame within the refrigerator compartment.
 15. The method of claim 13, further comprising: creating first and second recessed cavities in the rigid insulation behind the first and second openings by forcing the first and second protrusions into the rigid insulation material.
 16. The method of claim 13, further comprising: mounting the frame support elements to the opposing side walls of the liner by fixedly securing first and second mounting elements relative to the opposing side walls of the liner and connecting the frame support elements to the first and second mounting elements, with the frame support elements projecting into the refrigerator compartment.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the frame support elements are readily detachably connected to the first and second mounting elements.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the frame support elements are detachably connected to the first and second mounting elements through the use of tapering dovetail connections.
 19. The method of claim 16, wherein the first and second mounting elements are fixed in position by the rigid insulation material.
 20. The method of claim 13, wherein the opposing side frame members are clipped to the first and second support elements. 